Books and TV/Movies
Most of the time, when I see a TV show or movie that’s based on a book, I’ve already read it. Many people have a problem liking the show because it doesn’t meet their expectations from the book. Some will nitpick it to death–when the store was open, it seemed like droves of people had a problem with the first Lord of the Rings movie because something wasn’t exactly right. In some cases, it was fairly major, such as whole storylines being missing or drastically changed; other times, it was ridiculously trivial. At times, I felt sorry that the person clearly couldn’t fully enjoy the show. (I’m not talking about shows that are poorly done; that’s a whole ‘nother story, pun intended.)
Those folks would probably consider me to be completely clueless because I just don’t care that much about the details. If the show is well done, I can enjoy it for itself and look at the book and show as two interpretations of a good story. Granted, lots of these adaptations are really, truly awful, although even some of those can be enjoyable for other reasons, especially the grade-B movies. On the other hand, some are really, truly good. Perfect example—The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver. I loved the book but had serious doubts about the movie, largely because Denzel Washington did not fit my imagined idea of Lincoln Rhyme. Right, wrong or indifferent, I just didn’t see the character as a black man, actually never even thought about his race until the movie talk started.  Still, I was—and am—a huge fan of Denzel (how can you not be?) so off I trotted to the movie. And fell in love. I don’t care a whit about whatever differences exist between the book and the movie; they’re both fabulous and I have re-read the book and re-watched the movie over and over again with enormous pleasure.
Then there are the movies and TV shows based on books that I haven’t read. Sometimes, I like the movie enough that I want to read the book while there are also times that I’m a little afraid to read it because it might “spoil” the movie. Alternatively, the show might be bad enough that I have no incentive to try the book and, considering how much TV shows and movies are usually changed from the books, that’s not exactly fair on my part.   Perhaps I should just read the book without thinking about it first.
Nah, I can’t do that. So, the other night, I watched the pilot of Past Life which is supposedly based on The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose. I say supposedly because even the show’s own website says it’s “inspired” by the book. That’s an honest statement since, as far as I can tell, the only resemblance the book bears to the TV show is that it’s about reincarnation and has something to do with mysteries. The show was OK, not great, and I’ll watch at least one more episode before I decide whether it’s a keeper but it did serve one purpose. I have read a couple of Ms. Rose’s other books but had not checked out this series. Now, I’m interested enough to give it a try.  I’m not exactly in dire need of reading suggestions as my multiple teetering TBR piles can attest but, hey, one can never have too many books waiting to be read, right?
What book have you read because of a movie or TV show?
February 11, 2010
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
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One Response
How many books have I read _after_ seeing the movie/show? Scores, easy. Couldn’t list them even if I tried. Often, the movie/show just can’t compete with the depth available to print. But like you, I generally manage to enjoy the movie/show on its own merits.
However, I _can_ actually list a movie that was better than the book: _The English Patient_. The movie took the best elements of a disjointed, frankly brutal book about the arbitrariness of nationality and edited them together into one of the best movies I’ve ever seen about the obsessions between lovers. It’s sensual, it’s erotic, it’s gorgeously filmed, and it made for a romance that even hard-boiled anti-romantics like myself could fall for. IMHO, of course.
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